AFPPD New Report on Child Marriage: Parliamentary Good Practices for Effective Implementation of Laws and Policies for Prevention of Child Marriage

Kathmandu – March 21, 2016: A new report by the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD) titled Parliamentary Good Practices for Effective Implementation of Laws and Policies for Prevention of Child Marriage will be released on 22 March 2016 at the South Asia Parliamentarians’ Meeting on Child Marriage in Kathmandu, Nepal. This meeting has been jointly organized by the AFPPD and its member National Committee, the Nepalese Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (NFPPD), with financial support from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Australia and the South Asia Regional Office of the International Planned Parenthood Federation.

Although national legislation almost universally bans the practice of child marriage, still around one- third of girls in developing countries could be married before they turn 18. Marriage at such a young age leads to severe challenges and detrimental consequences for young brides, including health risks associated with early childbearing, developmental difficulties associated with social isolation and dropping out of school, and increased risks of becoming victims of domestic violence.

Parliamentary Good Practices for Effective Implementation of Laws and Policies for Prevention of Child Marriage presents ten case studies of good practices in a wide variety of cultural contexts from seven countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Malawi, Nepal, and Sri Lanka. The new report aims to address the root causes of child marriage in target communities, identify barriers and obstacles to the effective implementation of relevant laws and policies, and assess a variety of programmatic and policy approaches to overcoming the problem of child marriage, with a particular focus on measureable, proven results. The new report can provide parliamentarians with major lessons learned through these good practices and a toolkit for child marriage prevention programming.
The report will be available at the meeting as well as on the AFPPD’s official website: www.afppd.org.